K1 Visa | Fiance Visa | K1 Fiancee Visa

K-1 Visa Application for U.S. Citizen's Fiancée or
Fiancé, and Do It Yourself K-1 Visa Application Package

The K-1 Visa for Fiancée of a United States Citizen and K-2 Visa for Children

The K-1 visa, also known as the K-1 fiancée visa, is used by United States citizens who wish to bring their prospective spouse to the United States with the intention of getting married. The K-1 visa application procedures and policies followed by U.S. consular posts vary depending on the local conditions and requirements.

The K visas are issued to two groups of people: U.S. citizens' fiancée/fiancé who are outside the U.S. (issued K-1 visas), and U.S. citizens' spouses who are outside the U.S. (issued K-3 visas). A K-1 visa is for the purpose of admitting an alien fiancée/fiancé of a U.S. citizen, while a K-3 visa is for the purpose of admitting the alien spouse of a U.S. citizen for whom a family-based immigrant petition is pending.

The K-1 visa allows the alien fiancée/fiancé who lives outside the U.S. to travel into the U.S. to marry the U.S. citizen. K-1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa that recognizes the beneficiary's intent to immigrate based on his/her planned marriage to a U.S. citizen, and allows the beneficiary to enter the United States to complete the marriage. The K-1 fiancée visa is suitable for 1) Fiancée or fiancé of U.S. citizens to enter the U.S. and marry the U.S. citizen petitioner within 90 days; 2) U.S. citizens to bring their fiancé or fiancée to the U.S. to marry within 90 days.

The K-3 visa promotes the family reunion and serves as a temporary remedy for the long delayed family based immigration petition process. It allows the alien spouse to stay in the U.S. while waiting for the result of the pending immigration petition. The alien spouse may obtain work authorization during the waiting period.

A K-1 visa or fiancée visa gives permission for an foreign fiancée or fiancé to enter U.S. to get married. To get a K-1 visa, the U.S. citizen needs to file a K-1 visa application with Form I-129F to the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). If the Form I-129F is approved by USCIS, the documents will be forwarded to the U.S. consulate in the foreign fiancée's / fiancé's home country for review. An interview with the K-1 applicant will be scheduled to take place at the U.S. consulate. A K-1 visa will be issued if the interview goes well.

After the K-1 visa is issued, the fiancée or fiancé has 6 months to enter the United States, and then have another 90 days to get married in the United States. If the foreign fiancée/fiancé wants to get a U.S. Green Card (adjusting status in U.S.), the official government issued marriage certificate is needed to submit the Form I-485 application - adjustment of status. =>..........

The Requirements of Applying for a K-1 Visa, and Maintaining K-1 Nonimmigrant Status

In accordance with the U.S. immigration law, a Petition for Alien Fiancée should be filed by the petitioner who must be a U.S. citizen. The K-1 visa application is filed in USA with the USCIS. The U.S. embassy or consulate may not file or approve the K-1 application.

As a fiancé or fiancée of a U.S. citizen, you are eligible for K-1 visa if 1) you are legally eligible to marry under the laws of your country as well as the laws of the U.S.; 2) you will marry the petitioning U.S. citizen within 90 days of entering the U.S.; 3) you intend to enter the U.S. solely to marry the U.S. citizen; 4) you have met the U.S. citizen within the last two years before filing for the K-1 fiancée visa. This requirement can be waived only if meeting your fiancée/fiancé in person would violate long-established customs, or would create extreme hardship for the U.S. citizen.

In accordance with the U.S. immigration law, a Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) should be filed by the petitioner who must be a U.S. citizen. The petition is filed in the U.S. with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). U.S. embassy or consulate may not file or approve the petition. The approved visa petition is forwarded to the appropriate U.S. embassy or consulate, and the petitioner is notified of the petition approval by the USCIS. It usually takes approximately 6-8 weeks for the petition to reach the U.S. embassy or consulate.

The requirements for the K-1 fiancée visa include: the alien fiancée/fiancé must be outside the U.S.; the U.S. citizen must first file an From I-129F petition with the USCIS and have it approved before the alien fiancée/fiancé may apply for a K-1 visa; both the U.S. citizen and the fiancée/fiancé must remain unmarried until the arrival of the alien fiancée/fiancé in the U.S.; the alien fiancée/fiancé and U.S. citizen must have met personally at least once in the two years before the I-129F petition was filed.

The Immigrant Visa Unit at U.S. embassy or consulate will process the application for the K-1 visa. While no assurance can be given regarding the appointment date of the visa interview, the alien fiancée/fiancé should prepare for that appointment, and obtain the documents required for the visa application. The alien fiancée/fiancé must complete a medical examination in an embassy-approved medical facility. The forms and information regarding this are included in the information packet sent to the alien fiancée/fiancé. =>..........

The Limitations and Termination of K-2 visa, and Children Who Are about to Reach 21 Years Old

The K-1 visa expires ninety days after the K-1 alien fiancée enters the United States. Within that period, the alien fiancée with K1 visa must marry the United States citizen petitioner, or face termination of her K-1 status and potential removal from the United States. If the alien fiancée with K-1 status fails to marry the U.S. citizen, the alien fiancée with K-1 visa will not be allowed to adjust his/her status in U.S.

The K-1 fiancée visa is a nonimmigrant visa which allows the fiancé or fiancée of a U.S. citizen to enter into the U.S. and get married to the U.S. citizen. The benefits of the K-1 visa include: 1) The K-1 fiancée visa generally has a shorter processing time compared to marriage-based immigration visa petitions; 2) The alien fiancée/fiancé can apply for a work permit by filing Form I-765 and engage in employment; 3) The children of alien fiancée/fiancé can accompany the alien to the U.S. on the K-2 dependent visa, as long as they are named in the fiancée visa petition.

Until the marriage takes place, the alien fiancée/fiancé is considered a non-immigrant. The fiancée/fiancé may enter the United States only one time with a fiancée visa. If the fiancée/fiancé leaves the country before you are married, the fiancée/fiancé may not be allowed back into the United States without a new visa.

If the marriage does not take place within 90 days, or the fiancée/fiancé marries someone other than the U.S. citizen filing the petition, the fiancée/fiancé will be required to leave the United States. If the fiancée/fiancé intends to live and work permanently in the United States, the fiancée/fiancé should apply to become a permanent resident after the marriage. If the fiancée/fiancé does not intend to become a permanent resident after the marriage, the new spouse must leave the country within the 90-day original non-immigrant admission.

The law does not allow non-immigrant aliens to change to K status while they are in the U.S. It is solely available to those outside the U.S. for the purpose of family reunification with the U.S. citizens. Further more, K-1/ K-2 visa holders may not change to any other non-immigrant status while they are in the U.S. If a person is temporarily barred from entering into the U.S. for previous violation of U.S. immigration law, she or he cannot use K-1/K-2 visa to enter into the U.S. => ..........

The K-1 Visa Application and the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act

As an U.S. citizen petitioner, If you have filed two or more K-1 visa applications at any time in the past, or previously had a K-1 visa application approved within two years prior to the filing of this K-1 application, you must apply for a waiver.

The length of K-1 visa application time varies from case to case according to its circumstances. Some cases are delayed because the applicant does not follow instructions carefully or supplies incomplete information. It is important to give correct addresses and telephone numbers. In addition, the U.S. Embassy or Consulate may need to get security clearances for the applicant. Security clearances take time.

There are three steps that the parties must undertake: 1) The U.S. citizen must file an Form I-129F petition with the USCIS; 2) Once the Form I-129F is approved, the USCIS will notify the American Consulate abroad specified on the petition; 3) The alien fiancée/fiancé should submits an DS-160 non-immigrant visa application with a completed I-693 medical examination form and other requested documents to the U.S. consulate, for the issuance of the K-1 visa. Normally, an interview will be conducted at the U.S. consulate before the K-1 visa is issued.

After filing the USCIS Form I-129F for an K-1 fiancée visa, the U.S. citizen should begin to consider to file the form I-134, which is needed once the Form I-129F petition reaches the U.S. embassy in the foreign fiancée's home country.

To prepare the USCIS Form I-134, U.S. citizen should contact the bank or other financial institutions, and request information on their procedures to provide the financial documentation required by the Form I-134. For some cases, people may be surprised that gathering the required bank or other financial documentation from them is not simply an office visit, and may require several weeks for them to mail the requested documents and forms. => ..........

Frequently Asked Questions of K-1 Visa and K-2 Visa Application and Other Related Issues

Understand the K-1 visa and K-2 visa application requirements and necessary evidence from the Frequent Asked Questions, U.S. Citizen's fiancée or fiancé visa application processes, immigrant visa procedures, K-1 visa process and processing criteria, the supporting documents form U.S. Citizen and alien fiancée/fiancé, and our Complete Do-It-Yourself K-1 Visa Package. => ..........

Our Help Desk's Answers for Questions of K-1/K-2 Visa Application and Related Issues

Answers for questions of K-1/K-2 visa application and related issues by our Help Desk, including K-1/K-2 Visa application, K-1 requirements and supporting documents, and Green Card application for K-1 visa fiancée. => ..........

Complete Do-It-Yourself Package of K-1/ K-2 Visa Application for U.S. Citizen's Fiancee

To help a U.S. citizen's fiancée to immigrate to United States, we provide a high quality and case-proven "Complete Do-It-Yourself Package of K-1/ K-2 Visa Application for U.S. Citizen's Fiancée (K-1 Visa DIY Package, or K-1 Visa DIY Kit)." In this package, we let you know the required application documents, evidence, procedures, samples of petition cover letter, and samples of required forms.

We also provide detailed explanation of K-1/ K-2 visa application and interview process, and a complete list of interview questions. All required application forms and optional forms are included in the package. =>..........

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